The $500 Pile I Left at the Auction—and Why I Don’t Regret It

I wanted this pile. Like, really wanted this pile. Old iron fencing, decorative pieces, rusty salvage—the exact kind of stuff that makes my junk-loving brain start imagining possibilities.

But wanting something at an auction and actually deciding to bring it home are two VERY different things.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/0f01fc_5f1236e312e642f18a393ede021f9827/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

And Then the Bidding Started...

If you watched the video, you can probably see why I stopped.

There was old iron fencing, decorative pieces, gates, random bits and pieces—the kind of rusty pile that makes a junker think, Ohhhh, I could do something with that.

And I absolutely could have.

There were pieces in that pile I could have cleaned up and sold individually. There were pieces somebody would've wanted for their garden, porch, yard, or next Pinterest-inspired project. I could already picture some of it scattered around The Old Pioneer with price tags hanging from it.

But here's the part of buying for resale that doesn't always make it into the cute junkin' videos:

Just because I can sell something doesn't mean I should buy it.

At that point in the auction, some of the salvage I was really interested in hadn't even come up yet. I only had so much room on the trailer, and that pile of iron was going to take up a LOT of it.

So before I even knew what it would sell for, I was already asking myself a question I have learned to ask a lot more often:

Do I want this enough to give up the money, space, time, and work it's going to cost me?

Then the bidding kept going.

And going.

Somewhere around $500, my decision got considerably easier. 😂

The Purchase Price Is Only the Beginning

This is something I think people sometimes forget when they see resellers buying at auctions, estate sales, yard sales, or anywhere else we go hunting for inventory.

If I had bought that pile for $500, I wouldn't have just bought $500 worth of iron.

I would've bought the job that came with it.

First, somebody has to load all of it. Then we have to haul it home and unload it. After that, I have to sort through every piece and figure out exactly what I bought.

What needs cleaned?

What needs repaired?

What's actually worth selling?

Should pieces be sold individually or grouped together?

What should I price everything?

And then comes my personal favorite question:

Where in the world am I going to PUT all of this?

Because apparently "I'll figure it out when I get home" is not actually a storage plan. Who knew?

You Have to Know Where You're Selling

Could there have been more than $500 worth of resale value in that pile?

Possibly.

But that's not really the question.

I don't sell in some imaginary world where every item gets its absolute highest online asking price. I'm buying for my customers, in my area, at our flea market.

That matters.

If I have to spend $500, several hours of labor, a huge chunk of trailer space, and who knows how much storage space to eventually turn that into $700 or $800, was that really a good buy?

Especially when spending that $500 might mean I don't have the cash—or the trailer space—for something better that comes up later?

That's where auction buying gets tricky.

Sometimes you aren't deciding whether an item is "worth it."

You're deciding whether it's worth it compared to whatever might be coming next.

Walking Away Is Part of Junkin', Too

There is definitely a little adrenaline involved in an auction.

You spot something. You start imagining what you could do with it. You decide what you think it's worth.

Then somebody else bids.

Well...

Now you want it just a little more. 😂

That's exactly when I have to remind myself that I'm not there just to win.

I'm there to buy inventory that makes sense.

There will be another auction. Another rusty pile. Another piece of architectural salvage that makes me think I absolutely cannot live without it.

And sometimes the smartest buy of the day is the one you let somebody else haul home.

Ashley's Two Cents

There is no prize for coming home with the fullest trailer.

Okay, technically the prize might be getting to unload the fullest trailer...and that's exactly the kind of prize I'm trying NOT to win.

When you're buying to resell, don't just ask yourself, "Can I make money on this?"

Ask:

How much money? How much work? How much space? How long might it take to sell? And what am I giving up if I buy it?

I liked that pile of iron.

I would've happily brought some of it home.

But for around $500?

I watched somebody else buy it, kept my trailer space open for the salvage still coming up, and didn't lose a bit of sleep over it.

Sometimes knowing when to walk away is just as important as knowing what to buy.

Your turn: Which pieces would you have brought home? And bonus points if you can spot the other thing in these pictures that actually made it onto my trailer. 👀